Knitting-machine.



W. E. HINCHLIFF & C. W. ANDERSON.

KNITTING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED APR. 19,1915.

1,163,341, Patented Dec. 7; 1915.

hols, have inventsrim O BURSiUIl' TMAN'UFAG'J? L1 2511i G Gilli @393 a Specification oi Letters if-salami.

Application filel April 1%, 151% Serial .cTo.

To all whomb may come-m:

Be is known that we, Walrus; F Lrrr and CHARLES W. llrrcrirsoir, ens She Unites Ststcs,'r (hr-.5; at Roclriorcl, in l' f, T I u :Y 1 W-tn r" one com 3 or xv moo rhlfi. Ulu OJ. i

Improvements in itti 11g; llschines, of which the following is e specification.

This invention relates in general to kill? line machines of the. straight type and. he more particulsrr reerience the conv struction of the iieecllo ells thereof.

in knitting machines 019' this type which comprise rows o r libel needles anal neeclle beds, 1r hcs v moss practical to construct, she needle '0 Us of slierherely lie-- posed ilJlSlGll Willl plates and needle sop porting or heel plates, all suisahly bonsai. M

gether so as to ions series or individual necclle compartments each '7 steal to so port and gsiile a a result oi continual reciprc'coriorlv of the needles, the

bearing surfaces of lhese plo'l become worn and grooved, the eby iiecessitesh ncwcl of tee plates. .41 View of the lerge number of plates that comprisecl is. needle bed, it is obvious shsl; renewal or replacement of the bccl plates is a laborious oncl expensive operation, especially in View of the fact that the entire needle becl struo ture must be taken apart and reassembled.

The primary object oi" our invention is the provision of a needle bed so construct es that jwear occasioriecl by the reciprocation of the neeclles will be, recluced. to a min.- iinum and which, when eventually worn by long usage can be readily adjusteil .to provide new heol surface or repaired without disassembling the needle be structure.

Another object of our invention is to provide a needle heel wearing surface consisting of a single, hcrdenecl member which serves as the supporting be for all of the neeclles in one row, and whichmsy he adjusteii 50 present new surfaces for the needles.

Other objects encl merry attendant sclvantages of our inventioio will be more fully understood as the invention becom s better understood by reference to the following 5escription when considered 'in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein,-

Figure 1 is e freg'menter plain View of a; needle becl slructure embodying our. llIlV6lIl- Ulric new and useful port of the :livislos snrii needles heir-kg izrsnsverse secsicrcel View e local shows in 3; so a mlllfizfiy perspective "vie N mariner which the riser" member is associated bottom plczes, she -(llVlSl0B e116 clesrly show e the construction Ely reference to the lrswiogs which illustratecl. only so much seeelle bE-Ll slructure of straights-cw lroissi ng machine is necessary to ccilvey a e u rlersienrling of our invention, observed that the heel structure comprises supporting rozls s upon which mounted a series of elsernelely elispcscrl (livisicii wall plates 5 horizon: plates 6 0 B ,5 w e Iorroing a serles or individual needle core-- pert-niches designated by refer arise cherscre 7. eeriles 8, one cllsposccl in esch cocrpcrlments, ore projeeizecl from the upper ends of the oompsrtmeiiis so perllori no lo rig operation by me as of neecile-ec L rating jacks 9, operated hy the usual {not shown) seal. controlled ack-levers ectuslerl from a pattern cylinder of c 11- vcritional or preferred. construction l-leretofore, it has been the yrccslce so sliolahly mount the needles directly or; the top surface or" the plates 6 against which they are helcl by the springs 14. As a result of this constrcction, the seicl places being merely imharclened sheet steel stempirlgs, enml it being impractical to harden the hear ing ing surfaces become worn 21ml grooverl hy reciprocation or the needles. As soon as the plates become worn to any considerable extent ibhecomes necessary to disassemble the entire heal structure soil replarze she worn plates by new ones. 3y our invention have greatly improved the bed structure so that wear of the iieeolle becl surface is reduced lo a minimum and the machine may he run easier aml with less frictional resislzance (luring o much lcny'er periol of operation than has been formerly possible. We accomplish the several ohjecus ens o'clvcrlteges above meritioneil by pro irlirog a single adjustable member needle heal surfaces lore-ll she neeoles one surfaces of these stampings, salcl hear which forms lithe row in a machine. This member is in the form of an elongated relatively thin, hardened, steel plate designated by reference character 15, passing through apertures 16 in the division plates and seated in recesses 17 in the bottom plates 6 in such manner that one of the flat sides of said member forms the bed surface for all the needles in the row. It is obvious that such a hardened steel needle bed surface will permit the needles to be very efficiently operated during a long period of operation. \Vhen, however, the surface upon which the needles reciprocate does become worn, the bed plate 15 may be moved longitudinally'a distance equal tothe width of one of the division plates 5 to thereby bring the unused surfaces of the bed plate from beneath the division plates into the needle compartments and provide new bearing surfaces for the needles. It will be here noted that this renewal of the needle bed surface is effected without disassembling or disturbing the structure of the machine. IVhen the renewed bearing surfaces of the bedplate 15 have become worn after a period of operation, the plate may be further adjusted to provide new bearing surfaces by withdrawing the plate lengthwise from the bed structure, reversing the plate, and replacing it in operative position with its unused fiat side uppermost in position to serve as the bed surface for the needles. It is obvious, of course, that in order to renew the needle bed surface by this last method, the needles must first be removed and then replaced after the bed plate has been replaced. The needles, however, may be very easily withdrawn. longitudinally from the needle compartments and replaced without ditliculty and without disturbing any of the permanent mechanical structure.

\Ve claim:

' 1. In a knitting machine, a needle bed including a plate upon whicln a series of spaced needles slide, the plate being adjustable longitudinally of the bed to present new bearing surfaces for the needles.

2. In a knitting machine, a needle bed including a plate upon which a series of needles are slidably mounted, the plate being reversible so that any portion of its sides needles slide, said member being adjustablev to present new needle-bearing surfaces to said compartments.

4. In a knitting machine, a needle bed comprising bottom plates, division plates,

' and a plate extending transversely through the division plates and resting upon said bottom plate and forming a needle bearing surface above the bottom plates upon which surface the needles reciprocate.

5. In a knitting machine, a needle bed comprising spaced division plates, and a plate extending transversely through the division plate forming bearing surfaces intermediate said plates upon which needles in terposed between said division plates may slide reciprocably.

6. In a knitting machine, a needle bed comprising a series of individual needle compartments including a removable member provided with a hardened surface forming the bed surface upon which needles located in said compartments slide recipr0 cably.

7. In a knitting machine, a needle bed comprising a series of bottom plates, and a hardened needle-supporting plate extending longitudinally of the bed and upon Which the needles reciprocate, the top of the bed plates being recessed to receive said hardened plate. I I

8. In a knitting machine, a needle bed comprising spaced division plates having apertures extending transversely therethrough and arranged in alinement, and a plate passing through said apertures forming the needle-bearing surfaces upon which needles disposed between the division plates reciprocate.

WILLIAM E. HINCHLIFF. CHARLES W. ANDERSON.

IVitnesses:

JOHN F. MGCANNA E. M. CUMMINGS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Batents.

Washington, D. G. 

